Linnaeus in Lapland

By Lorine Niedecker
Nothing worth noting
except an Andromeda
with quadrangular shoots—
            the boots
of the people

wet inside: they must swim
to church thru the floods
or be taxed—the blossoms
            from the bosoms
of the leaves


*


Fog-thick morning—
I see only
where I now walk. I carry
            my clarity
with me.


*


Hear
where her snow-grave is
the You
            ah you
of mourning doves

Copyright Credit: Lorine Niedecker, “Linnaeus in Lapland” from Collected Works, edited by Jenny Penberthy, Copyright © 2002 Regents of the University of California. Published by University of California Press.
Source: Collected Works (University of California Press, 2002)